Virco Mfg. Co. (NASDAQ:VIRC) Position Increased by Minerva Advisors LLC

Minerva Advisors LLC raised its position in Virco Mfg. Co. (NASDAQ:VIRC) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,162,589 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,900 shares during the quarter. Virco Mfg. accounts for approximately 6.9% of Minerva Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Minerva Advisors LLC owned about 7.14% of Virco Mfg. worth $11,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quartz Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Virco Mfg. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $883,000. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Virco Mfg. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Virco Mfg. by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Virco Mfg. by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 16,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Virco Mfg. by 510.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 30,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 25,269 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 30.97% of the company’s stock.

Virco Mfg. Stock Down 1.8 %

Virco Mfg. stock opened at $10.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.89 million, a P/E ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Virco Mfg. Co. has a twelve month low of $9.08 and a twelve month high of $18.50.

Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.35). Virco Mfg. had a net margin of 8.93% and a return on equity of 24.63%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Virco Mfg. Co. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virco Mfg. announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 21st that permits the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Virco Mfg. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were given a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. Virco Mfg.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VIRC shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Virco Mfg. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered Virco Mfg. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

About Virco Mfg.

Virco Mfg. Corporation engages in the design, production, and distribution of furniture in the United States and Canada. The company offers seating products, including 4-leg chairs, cantilever chairs, mobile task chairs and lab stools, tablet armchairs, steel-frame and floor rockers, series stools, hard plastic seating, folding and upholstered stack chairs, and plastic stack and upholstered ergonomic chairs.